Tax Department announces e-filing hits all-time high

by jmaloni

Press release

Wed, May 8th 2013 01:25 pm

Electronic filing is safer; taxpayers receive faster
refunds

New York State
Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Thomas H. Mattox has announced that, as of
the end of April, 87 percent of taxpayers had e-filed their personal income tax
returns. More than 7.9 milliontaxpayers e-filed their personal income
tax returns by the deadline this year - a 200,000 increase over last year.

"E-filing is the easiest
and most secure way to file tax returns, and results in the fastest refunds,"
Mattox said. "It also saves tax dollars. Since 2008, New York taxpayers have
saved over $250 million in processing costs as a result of electronic filing."

In addition to being
much less resource-intensive than paper returns, e-filed returns can be
processed and checked for accuracy significantly faster. This means refunds can
be issued much more quickly to taxpayers who e-file, particularly in light of
the Tax Department's commitment to reviewing each return before issuing a
refund - a model being pursued by other states.

As a result of ongoing
process and technology innovations, e-filed returns were processed faster this
year than ever before, with the average refund provided in 20 days - a 20
percent improvement over the prior year.

By the end of April,
more than 5.3 million personal income tax refunds were issued totaling $4.75
billion. By the same date last year, 5.2 million refunds had been paid for a
total of $4.26 billion.

All returns - paper or
electronic - that were filed by the April 15 deadline are being processed and
refunds are issued daily.

In December 2011, Gov.
Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law the lowest tax rates for middle-income New
Yorkers in 58 years. As a result, 4.4 million middle-income New Yorkers saw a
reduction of $690 million on their 2012 income taxes.